Pubdate: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 Source: Kansas City Star (MO) Copyright: 2003 The Kansas City Star Contact: http://www.kcstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/221 Author: Eric Adler FOR VARIOUS REASONS, STUDENTS ARE ABUSING DRUGS USED TO TREAT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDERS For years drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall have been helping kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder stay focused. But now, school and law enforcement authorities say, more and more kids without ADHD are using the brain-stimulating pills just to get high. Or, because the drugs are related to amphetamines, to keep their brains hyperalert for long bouts of studying. Middle school. High school. College. Adderall, said one University of Kansas student, "is really popular around finals time." Like other students interviewed, she did not want her name used. "Everyone was talking about it and asking if anyone had any leftovers." With school out, the drug is still in demand. "Some people," said another KU student, "also use it to stay up while they're drinking themselves into a stupor, so they can drink and feel the effects of being drunk without feeling tired." Such a practice only increases the chance of deadly alcohol poisoning. Diagnosed with ADHD as a child, the student said he typically gives friends his extra pills only for studying or taking tests. In kids with ADHD, of course, the pills work well. The stimulating drugs give a boost to under-stimulated parts of the brain, calming hyperactive kids and allowing them to concentrate. For many, the drugs have turned troubled lives around. In people without the disorder, however, the pills just supply an energy-boosting rush. Because as ADHD kids age, they often don't need the drugs as often, many sell their pills to classmates for $5 to $15 each, depending on the dose, law enforcement officials say. Some groups, such as Parents Against Ritalin, think extra pills are available because the whole class of ADD and ADHD drugs are overprescribed. Certainly, the use of stimulants by college students to study is hardly new. In the '60s, amphetamine use became almost mythic. Caffeine pills such as No-Doz and Vivarin are still common. And authorities say they began noticing rising Ritalin misuse in the mid- to late 1990s in high school and middle schools. "If you asked us about this 10 years ago, we would have said it just doesn't happen," said Gretchen Feussner, a pharmacologist in the drug and chemical evaluations section for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. "But in the mid-'90s, we started getting a lot of reports from our field offices about kids giving, trading, selling, getting caught with crushed tablets at school, distributing on the bus. And these were high school kids." Friends and others, accustomed to seeing the FDA-approved medications doled out by school nurses, come to view the pills as commonplace and as an easily accessible buzz that they perceive to be less harmful than highs achieved with more illicit drugs. "It actually is really incredible how easy it is to get," said one 20-year-old student studying at the University of Arkansas. It is difficult to gauge exactly how common the misuse of ADHD drugs may be in or out of school. According to Feussner of the DEA, "there aren't any good stats out there." But Feussner said the illegal market in ADHD drugs is active and growing. Just last month, for example, a Leawood doctor and his wife were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly conspiring to distribute more than 5 pounds of amphetamines -- Adderall among them. A recent report by U.S. Department of Justice, "National Drug Threat Assessment 2003," says the availability of diverted pharmaceutical stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin is "increasing in most areas of the country." The drugs are more available because there's more of them. In 1991, about 2,000 Ritalin prescriptions a year were written nationwide. By last year, according to IMS Health, which tracks pharmaceutical trends, more than 19 million were dispensed for all ADD and ADHD drugs. Despite some occasional ill-effects -- nervousness, anxiety, stomachaches, extreme weariness after the drugs wear off -- students consider the risks worth it. As at many universities, health officials at the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and the University of Missouri acknowledge abuse and misuse of ADHD drugs among their students. Both students and school officials agree that it would be incorrect to paint the illicit use of Adderall or Ritalin as some kind of campus epidemic or scourge. Even Feussner of the DEA acknowledges that few if any occasional or casual users are becoming hooked. "They are serious drugs," she said, "but the evidence is not there to say that they (users) have a serious drug abuse problem with these particular drugs." Although there is cause for concern. "I have a friend who takes it all the time," said one KU student of Adderall. "It's gotten to the point where she can't study without it." Warning Signs People who take stimulants may show these symptoms: . Hyper-alertness . Talkativeness . Increased blood pressure . Increased heart rate . Loss of appetite . Wakefulness . Loss of weight . Mood elevation . Irritability . Hyperactivity - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens